


Wherein Rachel Asks Kurt And Blaine If It's Worth It

by rockinhamburger



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-28
Updated: 2011-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-23 04:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/246120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockinhamburger/pseuds/rockinhamburger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I can do so much better, can't I, Kurt?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wherein Rachel Asks Kurt And Blaine If It's Worth It

Just as Kurt was placing his latest cuisine experiment in front of his awestruck, grinning boyfriend, the doorbell ran. Kurt met Blaine’s inquisitive look with one of his own, and then he sauntered across the kitchen and into the entrance way to answer the door.

Rachel was standing on the porch in a red pea-coat. She was smiling widely. “Hi Kurt! I know you're on a date, so I won't bother you. Is Finn still upstairs? I told him earlier to meet me outside so that we wouldn’t interrupt, but I suppose he got sidetracked.”

Kurt looked at her for a long moment, then replied, soft and a little awkward, “Finn’s not here.”

Rachel was trying to peer around Kurt as he spoke, and she froze abruptly and gave Kurt a disbelieving look. “Finn is taking me out for dinner," she said fiercely. "Are you absolutely positive he isn’t upstairs?”

Kurt cursed his idiot step-brother and said quietly, “I’m afraid so. He went to Puck’s about an hour ago, said something about the call of duty. Whatever that is.”

Rachel's jaw dropped indignantly. "It is a _stupid_ video game that he never shuts up about!” she burst out angrily. “You cannot be serious!”

“I’m sorry,” Kurt said, wincing.

Rachel just stared at him for a very, very long moment, and then she shook her head. “What in the world am I doing with Finn?” she asked thickly. “I can do so much better, can’t I, Kurt?”

Kurt thought wistfully of his date with Blaine, of the several hours ahead of them in an empty house which they were planning to use for some quality private time, and sighed inwardly. “Come in, Rachel, it’s cold out there. I just finished preparing dinner, are you hungry?”

Rachel let out a wet, unpleasant laugh as she hung her jacket up on the hook beside Blaine's. “Yes, in fact! Since I was expecting dinner with my boyfriend, I did not eat before leaving."

Kurt nodded uncomfortably. "Well, I made enough food for another person," he said brightly, in an attempt to cheer her up. "There's meat in the main course, unfortunately, but you can eat the salad and I can whip up something else for you if you'd like.”

Rachel stomped on the backs of her boots to get out of them and sniffed again. “Of course _you_ remember my dietary restrictions. _And_ you're willing to make dinner for me. Has Finn ever remembered, even once? Has he ever made dinner for me? I can’t recall one occasion!”

Kurt led the way into the kitchen, lips pursed on a responding statement, where Blaine was sitting at the table with a guilty expression (his plate did not look quite as full as it had when Kurt had left the room) which quickly transformed into one of mingled surprise and curiosity when Rachel appeared behind him.

“Rachel! What brings you here?” he asked with a quizzical smile.

“Finn completely forgot about our date!” she cried, throwing herself into the chair across from him.

“Oh, I--I’m really sorry to hear that, Rachel.” Blaine patted her hand companionably, glancing up at Kurt and wincing almost imperceptibly. Kurt sat beside Blaine and pushed a plate of salad toward Rachel.

She ignored it, her bottom lip trembling as she said softly, “You know, sometimes I really don’t know _what_ I’m doing with him. I give him so many chances, over and over again, to prove me wrong. But the truth is, he’s a terrible boyfriend! And you two would know; you’re perfect boyfriends to each other.” Blaine squeezed Kurt’s knee under the table. “We are supposed to be moving to New York in five months! How is Finn going to be ready for that? Will I have to remind him of everything for the rest of my life?”

Kurt shared a significant look with his boyfriend. He could suddenly see their future in his mind’s eye, a few years down the road; the three of them at the no-doubt-exquisite dining room table, Rachel confiding her relationship troubles to them. He leaned forward and grasped her hand. She looked up, eyes wet.

“Rachel, I'm going to be honest with you, because I think you deserve it and I know you can handle it," he began, injecting kindness into his voice. “Finn’s not bright. You know that, I know that, _everyone_ knows that. So, yes, in all likelihood, he is going to forget important things for the rest of his life. He doesn’t understand what people are saying half the time; you're going to have to explain jokes and metaphors to him at every fancy dinner party you attend. Of course you'll be picking up his slack, Rachel, Finn is just... he's slow on the uptake. It’s part of who he is, and you know that. His endearing idiocy is compelling, I remember.”

Rachel was gazing at Kurt intently. He stroked her hand and sighed, continuing, “But to answer your first question, yes, you can do _so_ much better. You are brilliant and fantastic, and no matter how charming Finn is, he's not always going to meet your needs." Tears were coursing down Rachel’s cheeks now, and she closed her eyes and made a pained sound. “But Rachel?" She opened her eyes again, and stared right at him. "If you love him enough that it doesn't matter? Then it doesn't matter, not really. The lapses in memory and the ignorance on matters that require brain work will be a frustrating challenge, but it will be worth it because Finn is far more than his shortcomings. If you want my honest answer, there will be many, many men in New York who will jump at the opportunity to take your beautiful self out, and I guarantee they will never forget about a dinner date." Rachel bit her lip at that, tears flowing freely. “But they won’t be able to make you laugh like he does, or to hold you the way he does," Kurt said gently, wrapping things up. “They won’t be Finn.”

“So there’s really only one question,” he said briskly. “Does the good outweigh the bad? Or is it the other way around?”

Rachel let out a long breath, and then she rose from her chair, head high. “You’re right, Kurt." She looked away, and then she pushed her chair in. "If the two of you will excuse me, I have a lot to think about." She bade them goodbye and wished them well on their date, and then she let herself out of the house quietly.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Blaine turned Kurt’s face toward his and kissed him with a passion that made Kurt actually whimper as Blaine pulled back. He gazed at Blaine, jaw propped open just a bit. “What was that for?” he asked breathlessly.

“That was a reward for being an amazing friend,” Blaine said simply, and he dived in for more. Kurt succumbed willingly.

They left dinner on the table and moved things to the living room, alternating between hard, hot kisses and soft, sweet ones.

And that was where Finn found them two hours later when he walked into the house; he came right into the room and collapsed into the armchair beside the couch. Kurt hastily crawled off of Blaine and straightened his hair and shirt, steadfastly ignoring the hard-on in his jeans.

Finn seemed not to notice the state they'd been in; he looked seriously upset. "What's wrong?" Kurt asked, carefully not looking at Blaine who was pulling a throw pillow over his lap and watching Finn as well.

Finn replied, sort of dumbstruck, "Rachel broke up with me."

Blaine sucked in a breath beside Kurt and splayed his palm across the small of Kurt's back. Kurt's insides squirmed uncomfortably. "You want to talk about it?" he asked cautiously.

Finn nodded and began to speak, and Kurt and Blaine listened.

Kurt certainly felt some measure of guilt as he listened to Finn report how Rachel had shown up at Puck's house, not angry about Finn forgetting about her date, but a little sad instead (--"And that's how I knew something was wrong, she's usually angry."--). She'd said that they needed to talk, and then she'd told him that it wasn't going to work out, and that she loved him deeply but she needed to do this.

Kurt listened, and the guilt, however large, did not compare to the pride he felt for Rachel and her maturity and conviction.


End file.
